When you move your bowels fewer than thrice a week, then you are considered to be constipated. When you are suffering from constipation, your stools are normally small in size, dry, hard, and difficult to eliminate. People suffering from this condition experience bloating, straining, and a sensation of having a full bowel and often find it painful to defecate.

If you are not able to move your bowel every day it does not mean that you are constipated. But normal stool eliminations must be done three times a day to three times a week. If you go lower than that, then you most probably are constipated and must find relief for your condition. The following are some of those things you can easily do at home to remedy, prevent, and cure constipation:

1. Exercise
   The movement of the body helps ease the passage of food in the intestinal tract. Simple brisk walking for thirty minutes every day is a suitable form of exercise.
   
   


2. Laugh and Relax
   A tensed or frightened person is more likely to suffer from constipation than someone living a stress-free lifestyle. Enjoy a good movie, read a good book, laugh a lot. Laughing helps the digestive system as it massages the intestines.
   
   


3. Practice Good Bowel Habits
   Never ignore the urge to go to the bathroom. Eat your meals at roughly the same times every day. This enables the body to adopt to a regular bowel movement schedule.
   
   

The following are products you can easily find at home or buy at the neighborhood grocery to help you with your constipation problems:

1. Water
   To prevent constipation, you are supposed to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day. Water softens the fecal matter in the colon, inducing easy bowel movement.
   
   


2. Milk
   Having one glass of milk before bedtime helps in passing stool with ease in the morning.
   
   


3. Honey
   Greek researchers discovered that high-fructose drinks help make bowel movement easy. Fructose is the substance responsible for the sweetness of honey.
   
   


4. Oil
   People in the Mediterranean region greatly rely on olive oil as a cure for bouts of constipation. Olive oil and even vegetable oil act as lubricants that coat the stool and promote easy passage.
   
   


5. Fiber
   The recommend amount of fiber intake is not difficult to achieve. Half a cup of peas will give you 5 grams of fiber, while an apple will supply 3 grams of fiber. Prunes, raisins, popcorn, nuts, and oatmeal are also great home remedies for constipation because of their rich fiber content.
   
   


6. Herbal Medicines
   Psyllium seed is one of the best herbal treatments for constipation as it contains a soluble fiber known as mucilage that expands when it absorbs water, resulting in bulky stools that stimulate peristalsis. A great number of over-the-counter constipation products have this as their main active ingredient.